


Gotham's Thorns

by MzKrazyPouita



Category: The Batman (Cartoon 2004)
Genre: Rating May Change, Rating: PG13
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:54:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26540983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MzKrazyPouita/pseuds/MzKrazyPouita
Summary: After twenty-two years since Earth’s assault by the Joining, all seemed to be well in the world as the Justice League was formed to protect mankind from internal and external threats to mankind. With new advancements in technology, the world began to take shape into an early futuristic setting and even more global unrest across the nations. Gotham City had returned to its “normal” lifestyles of criminal activity from and the vigilantism of The Batman. Everything seems to be fine on the surface as the usual events continue on, but there is something dark and twisted going on in the underground of the city. Whether rich or poor, children have been disappearing all around Gotham without a trace of evidence which brings unrest and fear throughout the area. With the New Year beginning, it’s time to search and rescue methods as an uneasy alliance between the Batman, GPD, and even some of Gotham’s Most Wanted is made to find answers. What they find is shocking as they race against the clock to find answers and stop a dastardly plot.
Kudos: 2





	Gotham's Thorns

**Author's Note:**

> This was a bit of an old project I had since ever since the series end of "The Batman" in 2004 and this was a fanbase I was strongly involved in since middle-school. Over the years, I had been trying to figure out how to convey this project into an actual fanfic and the original story just wasn't that interesting to me as I thought about how to execute it. Who would've thought that by now I would've gotten into gear and finally commit to start working on what I had always wished I started sooner.
> 
> IDK when the next chapter will come so you'll have to be patience cuz work and writer's block can come at anytime, before I had tried to complete a few chapters ahead of time with my other fic, but eventually couldn't keep up. I also have other work to complete as well. Your views/comments/kudos give me such inspiration and I hope to continue this to the end.
> 
> If you want, feel free to join my server as it is dedicated to what I consider as an underrated series and a look ahead of the future of Gotham's Thorns: https://discord.gg/KXCBKBX

CHP 1 - Beginnings

The date was December 31, 2029.

In a city where the night sky always appeared melancholic despite the good spirits and festivities that were being celebrated in Gotham. All around, the citizens were racing back and forth from shopping centers, supermarkets, and any other location available for their last minute necessities to prepare for the New Year’s countdown. It only felt like yesterday as a ‘unique’ occurrence had plunged the city into chaos and that term was used loosely given the context of Gotham’s usual criminal activities. But none would have been able to predict a full scale alien invasion around the world as the Joining were brought by former professor, Dr. Hugo Strange. Nonetheless, while all seemed lost, the Earth was miraculously saved and it seemed that everything was now returning back to normal.

But Gotham City was not the same as it was twenty-two years ago as new technology which appeared like something out of science fiction was now being released to the people. With the aid of Wayne Industries and other organizations, new technology had been introduced to aid Gotham’s citizens. In regards to public safety, new regulations were set in order to make sure none of the new tech could be utilized by any way other than their intended purpose. Still the daily struggle was more based on surviving the days where criminal activity and supernatural menace were thwarted by Gotham’s own vigilante ‘The Batman’ and his cohorts. Despite the success of each new foe being defeated, there was unrest as it appeared that Batman was beginning to slow down. Even with the new security to keep the city safe was put to the test as three years ago, Mister Freeze’s attack on the city led to his eternal slumber in a cryogenic chamber. Now he was heavily guarded by special forces in order to keep things that way and what was seen as one of Gotham’s greatest successes became a short lived victory.

While everything appeared to be normal and joyous amongst the streets, there was a darker conspiracy hiding amongst Gotham City as the year after Freeze’s defeat, children from all around Gotham began to disappear. What started off as one or two missing cases around a few months soon began to grow into the hundreds and even more concerning that they were not even safe in their own homes. No child was safe in Gotham from the rich to the poor that there was no other choice but to try and send them away until the threat was dealt with. And even then, the routes were intercepted as the city fell into mass hysteria and riots broke out along with groups of search parties with and without the aid of the Gotham PD. It seemed that not even ‘The Batman’ was able to find a lead as Nightwing and Oracle scouted the city for any traces of evidence from the last disappearance. Soon enough, there was even more tragedy as beloved former mayor of Gotham City, Adam West, had passed away and a memorial statue of him was built in Gotham city hall as a remembrance of what he offered to the city he loved. Now, the sixth mayor, Emily Richards, had been faced with political stress and pressure as it was her turn to take the burden of trying to provide solace to the citizens of Gotham.

Before the stroke of midnight, Mayor Richards would be broadcasting a public statement at a New Year’s Eve celebration hosted in Wayne Manor to address the issue at hand. Many of the elite were expected to arrive along with Gotham PD more out of the public image and others merely wishing to forget the troubles that were happening around them. In fact, much of Gotham joined them in their own way so that they could forget the issues that weighed heavily in their hearts and minds.

~~~

Overhead, the batwing flew over the city to find any form of suspicious activity as the Batman was alert to find anything out of the ordinary.  
“Oracle? Did you find anything?”

Back in the bat cave, Barbara Gordon scanned the computer data for anything unusual. Formerly known as ‘Batgirl’, a disastrous accident fourteen years ago during a fight with one of Gotham’s most dangerous criminals, The Joker, had paralyzed her. But the job wasn’t done as Barbara was more than a sidekick that could perform fancy gym tricks and now as ‘Oracle’ she surveys the database while also providing extra eyes for Batman. “Oddly nothing is happening. Looks like Gotham City is taking a break from crime. Who can blame them? There’s nothing to do now, but get drunk and party their woes away.”  
“Focus. I’m going to do one more sweep before returning to the bat cave. Nightwing, what’s your status?”

From the rooftops, Dick Grayson, older and more experienced thanks to the training provided by Batman had grown from ‘Robin the Boy Wonder’ into ‘Nightwing.’ Despite his skills, it appeared that the old bat wasn’t ready to pass the torch just yet which caused them to butt heads at times, but even Nightwing knew that Gotham came first. “Everything is clear on my end. It’s like Oracle said, there’s nothing really happening. You should head back, Batman, I can take it from here.”  
While crime through Gotham had faltered a bit as many criminals retired due to age or having started families of their own, there were still others that couldn’t resist to contribute to even more of the chaotic unrest. That was until their own children were kidnapped, resulting in a significant drop in crime, a main drive for many to support their families as they believed there was no other alternative.

There was a momentary pause as Batman narrowed his eyes, weighing out the options before finally deciding. “...All right. I’m heading back. Nightwing, make sure to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Don’t do anything reckless.”  
“Me? Perish the thought.” Nightwing chuckled before Batman had ended the conversation and brought the batwing back towards the hideout.

From there, ‘The Batman’ had exited the batwing and strode over to where Oracle, removing his mask to reveal an aging Bruce Wayne. Once he was known as Gotham City’s most eligible bachelor and a generous donor towards many organizations that sought out to make lives easier for its citizens. A popular figure who was seen as rich and incorruptible by others, yet despite his fame and fortune that many sought after, Bruce Wayne had led a secretive lifestyle in which many had tried to uncover. Whether a date or a business partner, Bruce had kept to himself even from his friends over the years as he prefered to lower the risks of them being hurt should someone find out his true identity even as his age began to show. It was a risk that had tormented him even after an incident with Barbara during one of their missions. The cover up was that she was in the crowd of where Joker had attacked and was caught up in the chaos as people tried to escape, amongst the panic not many were able to confirm nor deny that Barbara was there. Whatever the case, Bruce was able to keep a tight circle of those he could trust with both his identities while others were merely for publicity to keep the Wayne family name out of any controversies.

Regardless, he couldn’t stay as ‘The Batman’ forever even if he wanted to and now Bruce had to meet with Mayor Richards over the concerns that had gripped the city in fear. It was his duty to find out what was going on, but with these events happening in the last three years, chances are that Bruce would be haunted by this failure. Even with the aid from the Gotham PD and the Justice League, it was as if the children had just disappeared without a trace.  
“You sure you can handle things down here?” He asked Barbara, who in turn gave a reassuring smile.  
“I’ll be okay. After all, you’ve got a party to host.”

At that, Bruce gave her a nod before heading for one of the passageways to strip himself from the cape and cowl for a more casual outfit in order to look inconspicuous upstairs. Once done, he was able to slip into the mansion and towards the privacy of his bedroom in order to prepare for the New Year’s Eve celebration.  
“Back already, Master Bruce?” A voice came from behind Bruce and as he turned, he was greeted by Alfred. Like Barbara, Alfred was more than just a butler in Wayne Manor. The elderly man was like a parental figure in more ways than one for Bruce to look up to and while he didn’t care for the idea of Bruce chasing around criminals rather than having a family of his own and moving on, Alfred still had supported him. Even in retirement, Alfred stayed by Bruce’s side and brought a formal blue suit towards the master of the house.  
“Thank you Alfred.” Bruce sighed. “Gotham’s more miserable than usual.”  
“I don’t blame them given the circumstances Master Bruce.”  
“How are things going on downstairs?”  
“The guests are in somewhat high spirits in regards to the New Year celebration and seem to be enjoying the moment of forgetting their trouble and Mayor Richards has already arrived.”  
“Has she been waiting long?”  
“No sir, she arrived a short while before you did, along with Jim Gordon, the commissioner, and the chief of police. They’re still waiting to speak with you as well.”  
“No doubt about the disappearances.”  
“Perhaps. Or they only want to wish you a ‘Happy New Year’ given that Wayne Industries is Gotham Cities lead tech industry in both security and luxury.”  
“Always the optimist, eh Alfred?”  
“Some of us have to be, Master Bruce, even during times like these.”

~~~

As Bruce was preparing himself for the celebration, Gotham’s elite were shedding their winter coats as they entered Wayne Manor and gossiped amongst themselves while others dined on the delicacies provided by their host. Among them was Emily Richards, a younger politician compared to the previous mayors before her, and she was also seen as someone in way over her head when dealing with the events at hand. There was some sympathy given by a few of the people and the elites as not even the other mayors were able to do much about the missing children or live up to Mayor West. Regardless, Emily was able to enjoy a few drinks and free food to build up her confidence as the whole city talked about her upcoming speech, even if she did make the public announcement, it felt as if the whole world had its eye on her. From a happy new year message or a possible resignation, the whispers were loud and a few of the younger upstarts sounded as if they were trying to instigate something as they carefully walked over to her. Rather than stick around, Emily moved away from them to try chatting with some of the other friendly and elderly elite who were more occupied in comparing their end of the year successes and boast to the young mayor about how much revenue they were able to rake in.

In another part of the room, a small group of Gotham’s police had their own conversations with the retired commissioner, Jim Gordon. They were many younger cadets who surrounded him to try and talk over one another to gain his attention as Jim did his best to answer them. Truthfully he would prefer to be out of the room and have his own celebration with his daughter once she was done with work. Hopefully, Barbara would appear later on at the party so that the two can catch up and enjoy the countdown together.  
“It’s an honor to meet you sir. You were such an inspiration to me in the academy.”  
“Well it’s good to hear that I can help influence the young folks.”  
“Will your daughter make an appearance?”  
“I am unsure at the moment. Barbara is busier than a bee these days.”  
“How is she doing?”  
“She’s doing fine, thank you.”  
“What sort of work is she doing?”  
“I’m a little unsure at the moment, Barbara likes to keep to herself, I don’t like to pry into her personal business.”

“All right, cadets. That’s enough chit chat” A voice came from the crowd and as they turned, there she was. Commissioner Ellen Yin with the Chief of Police, Ethan Bennett. In a quick motion, the others gave their goodbyes and were quickly off to continue on with their tasks alongside the other more experienced members of the force.

“Thanks commissioner.” Gordon smiled at Yin.  
“It’s no problem commissioner.” She gave a nod and a smile.  
“I guess old habits are just hard to break, eh Yin? How are you two?”  
“We’re doing fine. Just dealing with the usual.” Chief Bennett spoke up. “Cracking down on what little crime that’s been going on and trying to handle the stress of our new cases.”  
“So I’ve heard. If it’s not one thing in Gotham, it’s another. ” Gordon looked over at Yin with a more soft spoken tone. “How are you holding up?”  
“I’m fine.” She took a drink and looked bitterly at her glass. No child was saved from these kidnappings, regardless of who they are, not even Yin’s own child. “It’s been so long… but that’s not going to stop me from looking everywhere until I can bring them home. All of them.”  
“No matter how long it takes, we’ll find them.” Ethan placed a hand on her shoulder.  
“How can you be sure?”  
“All I know is there’s no point in focusing on the downside and giving up. I like to think that they’re all safe. Somewhere. Think about. No evidence can mean a good thing and the search is still on, right?”  
“Heh. Always the optimist, eh Bennett?” Gordon spoke.  
“Someone’s gotta be. Gotham’s already depressing enough, no point in adding more to the mess if it’s not going to get us anywhere… So, any clue on what Mayor Richards is gonna say? Her big announcement plan is the talk of the year.”  
“No idea.” Gordon responded. “It looks like she’s avoiding any spoilers and most everyone one from every news station.”  
He gave attention to the various reporters who were broadcasting the event live for many of the citizens to watch at home.  
“Come to think of it.” Yin spoke. “Has anyone seen our gracious host?”  
“Bruce? Not really. I’ve seen Alfred a little while ago though. He said something about Bruce still getting ready, but he’ll be down soon.” Gordon replied.  
“Looks like he’s going to be fashionable late to his own party.” Ethan chuckled a bit as he looked at the time. “Well it’s not like it’s going to be that serious, there’s still three hours left until the countdown.”  
“Feels like it’s going to be a long three hours.” Yin commented after finishing her glass and placed it on a tray for a server to take, replacing it with another.  
“What’s the matter, comish? Already feeling tired?” A voice came from the crowd and the three were greeted by the one and only Bruce Wayne. With a small smile and a glass in his hand, Gotham’s uncatchable bachelor had approached them.  
“Well if it isn’t the man of the hour, how are you Bruce?” Ethan smiled as he approached Bruce with a side hug.  
“Better than you.” He responded with a chuckle. “You look exhausted Ethan. Maybe it’s time to call in an early retirement.”  
“Hey, not everyone can afford fancy face masks. And judging by your wrinkles, you should ask for a refund.”

As the hours passed, the elite had forgotten about their woes for the night as they ate and drank, conversed in jokes, danced to the music playing, all while the citizens of Gotham celebrated in their own way in the streets. In their homes, people had gathered to remember their missing loved ones and held their children close as the television played on. When the time came, all broadcast channels were focused on Wayne Manor as Bruce stepped forward to a podium to address the people before introducing Mayor Richards.

With a sigh, she stood behind the podium. If luck was on her side, things would go well.

“Hello Gotham City! It’s wonderful to see you all here together, especially through these trying times. For years, Gotham has faced different challenges, but we have been able to make it through together and the events that are plaguing our streets are no different. Three years ago, we faced an influx of kidnappings, but we have not lost hope. Thanks to generous fundraisers and organizations donated to aiding those who have lost their loved ones, a thought had come to mind. We will not stop until every child is found and brought back home, but we must also focus on preventing even more from being taken. Which is why, starting immediately, Gotham City will follow a zero-tolerance curfew for all youths from dusk till dawn.

There were murmurs in the crowds as Mayor Richards continued. “With Gotham’s finest, all educational facilities will be heavily monitored, public daycares with extended hours, and secured transportation vehicles will be provided to benefit families from all over the city.”  
“Mayor Richards,” a reporter spoke up. “While this action caters to the protection of children here in Gotham. What about the missing?”  
“In regards to the missing, I realized that we have failed them in believing that this was just a random occurrence. Our efforts should’ve been focused as a large group not individual search parties, which is why I am also enlisting a new task force.”  
“A new task force?” Another reporter spoke.  
“Yes. Not only of Gotham’s Finest, but also uniting our search efforts with that of the Batman and members of the Justice League, should they accept this mission.”

At this, Bruce, Yin, and Ethan were surprised once Mayor Richards was finished with her speech and became bombarded with questions.  
“Did she tell you anything about this, Yin?” Ethan leaned in to ask, but the commissioner narrowed her eyes.  
“No.” She gripped her drinking glass tightly, upset at the sudden revelation over this idea to the public. “This is a last minute call to keep everyone calm.”  
“Then she’s in over her head.” Bruce commented. “Whether this is a political move or just blind hope, Mayor Richards might’ve just made the wrong move. This is being broadcasted throughout the city and possibly any nearby station that’s eager to listen in.”

Neither made a motion or any further comments as the New Year clock was coming near to an end in hopes that the night would end sooner. 

~~~

Far in the distance of the city outskirts, in an old building, figures were watching the news on a large television surrounding the event occurring in Wayne Manor before the New Year countdown began. The room was dimly lit with a few candles providing a sense of ambience as they also aided in making the room appear as if they were a part of the festivities. On a small coffee table there was an array of cheese, meats, fruits, and vegetables with a bottle of wine as if mimicking the fine tastes that were shown from the mansion. There were only two figures that enjoyed their little meals while also laughing and throwing bits of their food around like children, spilling their drinks, and mocking the mayor as she addressed the people. 

Standing within the darker part of the room were seven figures, one standing before the rest as if waiting for instructions, watching as their patrons made fools of themselves. Each figure was draped in a gothic fashion and from left to right, they donned a single color of neon on their clothing to identify themselves. Their masks were made of cracked porcelain and had red goggles to better hide their faces and protect their eyesight. They were all nearly identical in regards to the long torn cloaks as the hoods covered their heads and ears, clawed gloves which the nails were decorated with their signature color, their shirts and pants also had belts tightly bound onto their arms and thighs of the same outfit color, and the boots varied upon each person. 

The leader wore an iconic ‘comedy and tragedy’ theatre mask with the left half painted white and a neon purple diamond under its cheek, while the right was painted black with golden streaks to represent fallen tears on both sides. Beside them was a rabbit mask with a large spot of neon pink around the right eye with silver markings to resemble whiskers. Next was the neutral theatre mask of white and silver. Continuing down was a porcelain crow’s skull with the tip of its beak transitioning from black to neon green. Then came a female mask which expressed itss delicate gender with neon red to create lipstick and makeup. Another was a golden mask that was more masculine with silver lips and swirls. And finally there was a ram’s mask with neon blue and gold decorating the horns that curled forward. 

With no attempt to move from the patrons as food was thrown at them for laughs and restraining themselves from spilling blood for the display of disrespect. It was a good thing that their masks were able to hide the disgust on their faces as a scrap of meat had stuck itself upon the mask of their leader as he glared daggers at the two wannabe elites. All the attention of the members were drawn to the television as Mayor Richards had announced her curfew along with the message that ‘The Batman’ and Gotham PD will be uniting together to find the missing children. 

“What do you think of this?” The male patron spoke to his companion with a childish tone in his voice. “Should we be worried?”  
“Ha! As if there’s anything to worry about.” The other responded with a cheerful glee in her tone. “They have nothing and this will pass over soon. Besides, we’ve been one jump ahead of everyone. No one in Gotham can stop us now, especially when we are so close to achieving what we want. Don’t you think so children?”

The seven said nothing as the two patrons merely laughed and continued on with their childish behavior of throwing food and mockingly laughed at the television. As they were dismissed and once out of ear shot, the rabbit walked beside their leader to speak with them.  
“What do you make of this?” She asked in a low raspy tone.  
“It means that now we set our own plans into motion.” He replied as they disappeared into the darkness with only their neon colors illuminated amongst the shadows.

The date was January 1, 2030.


End file.
